Chapter 13 Ketheron #3
A startled curse escaped him. “Damnation, you scared me. I didn’t know you were already awake. After last night and our—”
“Six times.”
His lips pulled into an amused smile. “Yes. That. After that, I thought you’d need to sleep in today.”
My physical… capabilities outclassed everyone and everything, and my body didn’t technically need sleep, at least not in the way other beings did.
But my mind did. He was referring to the emotional and mental intensity of what last night had been for me.
And, yes, I had become a little obsessive and territorial with him during the fifth and sixth times, to the point where I’d lost control in several different ways because it had all consumed me so completely.
“I promise I am well.”
He looked me over, studying me for a few moments. Especially my eyes. I knew he was seeing the clarity there, that haze from the latter half of last night gone now.
“Yes, you are.”
As he traced the fissures all over my skin, I did the same to the black veins all over his chest. It was lean yet incredibly defined—so strong and sturdy.
Reassuring for me. I needed him to be… durable.
It made it feel safe, made us feel safe.
And permanent. And obviously his power set being able to match mine in its own special way helped with that.
He had to be permanent.
He had to stay forever.
And that had seemed as close to a certainty as anything ever could be in this life.
Until Ruxnoth.
Until my gorgeous had been damaged by that heathen.
Now as I looked out at him, the worry I saw him trying to quell cut at me.
Last night had been a celebration for us, but also a timeout from all the rest. But with this new day came an unfortunate return to outside reality.
I’d known it would come, but I’d hoped we’d be afforded more time.
“Is it the spell? Did it generate some results while I was sleeping?”
I should have felt it too, though. It had been fashioned to alert us both, even in sleep. But if one of us was asleep, it would be directed at the one already conscious, the path of least resistance, because alerting a sleeping mind took more power and effort.
“No. Not yet. It’s still very early.”
We’d been tasked with investigating possible locations for Ruxnoth’s magical construct, the point at which it connected with the mortal plane.
He was drawing from its lifeforce, which accounted for Ambrose detecting a destabilization.
However, Ruxnoth was doing so at a meager, barely noticeable rate.
The actual destabilization that had been felt had been a result of Ruxnoth initially grafting Sanctus to the mortal plane—the moment of that connection.
Since that instance, it had become imperceptible.
More accurately, it appeared imperceptible once he’d taken measures to ensure it remained hidden.
Given that he had the ability to perform a particular version of transmutation, those measures weren’t easily discernible.
He could alter the physical form, properties, and shape of all sorts of things.
Now, my gorgeous could do something similar with his abilities. He could warp the intent in the magic of others. Briefly.
He had employed that at a powerful scale two decades ago when Sylas had been unwell and accidentally released his most damaging ability, Risen Reckoning. Ambrose had made it impact the environment instead of people—altering its intent.
The similarity to those two abilities was what had given me the idea for the spell we’d finished crafting together yesterday after many days of figuring out the theoretical spellwriting for such an unorthodox thing.
Using the essence of that ability of his, I’d fused it into a spell that drew from the formidable durability and stamina of my own magic that was now sweeping across the supernatural world and searching out unnatural alterations—Ruxnoth’s magic, basically.
It would enable us to thereby identify an access point into Sanctus.
There were likely several, in fact, if what Ruxnoth had told Winter was fact—that he’d left Sanctus to walk on the mortal plane several times over the years.
“You are concerned about Sylas?” I asked. “What he might do in light of this Winter-Ruxnoth situation?”
“Predominantly Winter.”
“Tiny god? He would never position himself as a threat to either of us. He is my baby brother in essence.”
“Under normal circumstances, no. But Ruxnoth has whispered in his ear. And if Sylas cannot counter that as he clearly intends to do with the apprentice training, Winter could very well unleash that savior complex of his in full force. Given your relationship with him, I know well that you wouldn’t stand for it. ”
“You think I would go into battle against Ruxnoth?”
“If you enter into battle, especially one of that magnitude, it will violate the rule of the Guardian Movement and all those occupying seats of power across the realms.”
I swallowed. “I would once again be seen as a threat. They would come for me.”
“For us. I would stand beside you.”
“It won’t come to any of that. Besides, I’m not the only being of True Celestial power.”
“The Haven Initiative Celestials are also prohibited from battle in a similar way to that which you are. And if you are referring to Ariana Martel, she is of pure angelic magic, while Ruxnoth wields a deep perversion of it. It is that perversion that will prove unconquerable for her in all likelihood.”
“It’s only a matter of time before the existence of Ruxnoth and Sanctus gets out and—”
“I know it doesn’t sit right with you that Ariana hasn’t been told, especially with the True Celestial aspect involved.
But you also wish to protect Winter. Telling Ariana wouldn’t mean just her being made aware.
With her affiliations, it would bring in Ryker Morgan and his Guardian Movement, Jaxon Silver, Mia Snow, Kai Hunter, then the Titanus dragon brothers also.
A wealth of high-level magic and abilities wielded by those who will be deeply antagonized by the news of a True Celestial villain running free beyond the Celestial Plane.
More than that, with the intention to build his own version of the Celestial Plane here.
We must also prepare for the possibility that he could be in possession of Celestial weapons. ”
“Like the Wrath of Hades and Valkrith?”
“Yes. Weapons that have the means to kill Celestial beings with a strike through the heart.”
I shook my head. “You need not worry about that aspect. There are no other Celestial weapons.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes. With the knowledge imbued in me from many True Celestials as per a facet of my makeup, I would be aware.”
“Well, that is certainly a relief. One, at least. Although, it does also mean there is now no clear way to terminate Ruxnoth—if anyone could even actually get close enough to deliver a deathblow.”
“Like you are concerned Sylas may try to do regardless? Deliver a deathblow of another sort?”
“He made you give him the magical essence you extracted from Winter—Ruxnoth’s infection.”
“And you don’t think it should be in his hands, not with Winter being Ruxnoth’s target?”
“I know that Sylas has the means to achieve the seemingly impossible and this threat is one such thing. However, with his son a factor, I am duly concerned that he will break from his cautious, toeing-the-line approach he has maintained for the last two decades.”
“And that’s what you think he’s doing with that portion of Ruxnoth’s power? Not just determining Ruxnoth’s specific abilities and any limitations?”
“I think his plan has two stages. First, to siphon all those necromancers under that abomination’s charge, rendering them inoperable and utterly powerless forevermore.
Second, while channeling all that power, fuse Ruxnoth’s essence into a version of Risen Reckoning that will be able to force him into the Valley of the Dead. ”
I choked. “No. We’re talking about twenty necromancers, some we know to be of significant power sets, close to Sylas. If he did that, he’d—”
“He’d perish. Especially if he then channeled all that power into Risen Reckoning—something he absolutely cannot do. That spell cannot be used on the living by him. Not after what happened before, not after Morien.”
“Sylas knows the world needs a highly-capable and trained necromancer.”
“Hence him also agreeing to train Winter, despite concerns that Ruxnoth’s manipulations have impacted him. Not just to empower him, but to be his replacement. Sylas knows we could bridge the gap after he’s gone and get Winter close enough to Sylas’ level.”
“Cassius would have gathered this too. He’s been keeping an eye on Sylas’ lab work. And Remnant is highly intuitive.”
“But do either of them have the means to actually stop him?”
“He won’t just leave his family, Ambrose.”
“He also won’t allow his son to be stolen away for eternity.”
I sat up and leaned against the headboard, scrubbing my hand over my face. “You’re getting at something… you wouldn’t let this happen, I know you.”
He sat up with me and clasped my hand over the sheets.
“Once we determine the location of Sanctus, if I can reach through Winter’s connection to Ruxnoth, I could then use that to lock onto that heathen deep within the magical construct.
I could establish an anchoring point through which to direct a flood of black magic.
In doing so, I could also trap him there, even fuse him with the construct itself, making both him and the entity inert. ”
A rare curse escaped me at his incredibly intelligent plan. “I don’t say this often, but wow. Wow, my gorgeous.”
“Well, you do happen upon that word whenever you come for me, and so very beautifully, I might add.”
I chuckled and slapped his chest. “Stop.”
He leaned in and nipped at my ear, then licked the lobe, sending a tremble through me.
I knew what he was doing.
“I’m okay. So long as we link before this plan comes to pass.”
“You wish me to channel you?”
“Of course. Because we’ve been physically connected several times—and, you know, also that blood thing that happened a couple of times too when my vampire facet made itself known in our early days of lovemaking—we don’t need to be touching for you to channel me.
So long as we form a link beforehand, you can call on it whenever you need. ”
“I don’t like the idea of doing that.”
“I know, but I don’t like the idea of you draining yourself to the point of death.”
He jolted at the severity of my words.
Then he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me against him, draping his body around mine, covering me with his warmth, grounding me.
“You’re right. Of course you’re right. Wanting to keep you out of danger, then expecting you to be fine with me throwing myself into the thick of it, is wrong.
I’m sorry. My instinct when the stakes are high is still to undertake a lone-wolf approach, despite my efforts to cure myself of that for you. ”
I stroked his pectorals and they flexed beneath my soft touch. “No. You don’t need to cure yourself of it. I understand with your unique position in the supernatural world, you can’t really do that. Just… at least entertain a compromise when there’s one available. That’s all I ask.”
He nodded. “We are one now, we must act as one. What hurts me, hurts you, and vice versa. We will establish a link and I’ll channel you if it comes to that. You have my word.”
“Thank you,” I breathed, relief singing through me.
“It may not even come to that. It depends on the size of the construct.”
“I know, but I can’t risk you.”
“I understand, treasure.” He nuzzled against me. “I truly understand.”
We sank into one another.
And then I frowned to myself as through all this complexity and the emotional aspect of him and my family being involved, it’d had me missing something. “Your plan relies on a link between Ruxnoth and Winter. How do you know there is one?”
“That fiend would never have allowed him to go free. He went to great lengths to infect him beforehand to essentially ready Winter for that encounter he forced into being. Now he’s finally connected with him, he would have ensured it was maintained somehow, even across time and distance.
Winter is essential to the survival of Sanctus and Ruxnoth’s overarching goal of forcing it onto the mortal plane, then reigning supreme over us all. ”
“But when I cleansed Winter of every last vestige of that infection, I even cleared out the dormant aspects Ruxnoth had tried to keep hidden.”
“He has the ability to warp much. We wouldn’t even know what form it had taken, what we were even looking for.”
“Ah, until our spell locates the entry point to Sanctus and then you can determine it from that end of things and trace it back to Winter.”
“Precisely, my phenomenal magical scholar.”
I smiled and curled against him, pulling the covers up over us. “I really hope our spell can determine the location soon. The stakes are so very high.”
“I know, treasure. Keep in mind that we have endured through situations of a similar magnitude before, and we’ve emerged victorious, everyone intact. The threat may be formidable, but so are we all.”
“That’s true.”
I sighed, my eyes growing heavy.
“This is a lot, I know. Close your eyes all the way. I can tell you need to sleep a little more now.”
“I don’t want to waste this time with you.”
“It’s not a waste. I won’t leave this bed. I won’t stop holding you close.”
I smiled as my head lolled against his chest. “Okay, just a little more sleep.” My eyes fluttered closed and I breathed sleepily against him, “I love you, Ambrose.”
“I love you, too. So very dearly, Ketheron.”
It was the last thing I heard before I was pulled into sleep again.